


Family Ties

by ShineeFan101amg



Series: Jo Foster Chronicles [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Badass SHIELD Agents, Double Life, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kid Thor, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Universe, POV Original Female Character, Protective Thor, SHIELD, Sister-Sister Relationship, Thor Feels, Thor Is Not Stupid, Thor Is a Good Bro, keeping secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2431310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShineeFan101amg/pseuds/ShineeFan101amg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo is visiting her sister Jane in New Mexico in order to see what she's been working on, when suddenly people start falling from the sky, the Government shows up, and everything gets crazy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My plan for this story is to keep it as close to Thor (the movie) as possible. That means that most of the dialogue will be coming straight from the movie itself, and I'm going to try to keep most of it word for word because the dialogue in Thor is already well written and quite funny. I hope you enjoy this chapter and this story, and please leave a comment if you have a suggestion or a question. Feedback is a wonderful thing.
> 
> Also, I noticed that not a lot of people use polyvore on this website, but I really like it and there wasn't a good opportunity to describe what Jo looks like and what she was wearing so I'm going to link the outfit from polyvore that I created for her.
> 
> http://www.polyvore.com/reunions_first_meetings/set?id=120482250&lid=3557435
> 
> And yes, I picture Jo as Shailene Woodley. Sorry, not sorry.

"Wait for it."

"Can I turn on the radio?"

"No."

"I'm with Darcy. It's too quiet. Can't we-"

"I said no, Jo," Jane repeated, cutting me off. To my left Darcy sighed.

"Sorry, I tried," I told her. Jane completely ignoring Darcy and me, continued to scan the sky above, looking for-well, I'm not sure what.

"Jane, you can't keep doing this," Selvig told her gently.

"The last seventeen occurrences have been predictably to the second," Jane muttered to herself as she climbed back through the van's sunroof and pulled out her laptop.

"Jane, you're an astrophysicist, not some storm chaser," Selvig said as he too climbed back into the van.

"I'm telling you, there's a connection between these atmospheric disturbances and my research," Jane replied emphatically, almost interrupting him, "Erik, I wouldn't have asked you to fly out here if I wasn't absolutely sure."

"Me on the other hand, you'll call whenever you just want another set of hands," I mumbled to myself. Jane, ignoring me once again, continued looking at her laptop and muttering to herself. "Well, at least I have you, Darcy," I said looking over at Darcy to see her leaning out of her seat and staring out the window, "or not."

"Jane?" Darcy said, trying to catch my sister's attention, "I think you want to see this."

Following Darcy's advice, we all looked out the window of the Van. "What is that?" Jane asked, referring to the blue light show that was currently going on up above us. Jane, apparently unsatisfied with just looking through the window, got up out of her seat and went back through the sunroof, Selvig right behind her.

"I thought you said it was a subtle aurora!" Selvig exhaled, awed by the sight above us.

"Go!" Jane suddenly yelled down to Darcy who had moved up and into the driver's seat to get a better view of the not-so-subtle-aurora going on outside. Darcy quickly put the van in drive and took off, hitting several ruts in the ground and jostling the van's occupants. "Get closer," Jane told Darcy.

"Right. Good one," Darcy replied sarcastically.

"Go!" Jane yelled again, and Darcy, realizing she wasn't kidding, steered the van toward the storm. As if this wasn't good enough, Jane opened the passenger window and leaned out, holding her camera in front of her face.

"Are crazy?" I yelled, "Get back inside the van before you fall out!" Once again, Jane ignored me and continued hanging out the window, watching through her camera as Darcy drove the van closer and closer to the center of the storm, which looked a little too much like a cyclone for my liking.

Without warning, Darcy abruptly changed directions, sending the van careening to the left and away from the cyclone-thing, much to my relief, but apparently not to Jane's.

"What are you doing?" she yelled.

"I am not dying for six college credits!" Darcy yelled back, still driving the van away from the storm. Jane, unhappy with this answer, reached over and pulled the steering wheel sharply to the left, trying to direct us back toward the storm. The two spent several seconds grappling for control of the steering wheel as lightning started up and the storm intensified. All of a sudden, Darcy and Jane both let out a cry of surprise and Darcy hit the brakes, sending Selvig and flying forward into the front seat, and I heard a thump as the van collided with something.

The van quickly skidded to stop and we all looked around at each other with similar expressions of shock, before we all clambered out of the van to see what we'd hit. As I got out of the van I noticed that the storm had ended as quickly as it had started, leaving no trace behind.

"I think that was legally your fault," Darcy yelled as she and Jane rushed over to what looked to be a man lying on the ground just to the side of the van.

"Get the first aid kit," she ordered as she kneeled down beside the unconscious man. "Do me a favor and don't be dead. Please." she muttered as she started checking him over. I reached back into the van, grabbed the first aid kit, handed it to Darcy, then moved over to join my sister next to the hopefully-not-dead man. Looking up at the rest of us as we crowded around her and the unconscious stranger, she asked the question we were all thinking, "Where did he come from?"

Before any of us could even attempt to come up with any sort of answer, the man gasped, turned, and opened his eyes, looking up at all of us as we looked down at him.

Darcy, standing behind me, asked, "Does he need CPR? Because I totally know CPR." I stifled a laugh as Jane pretended she didn't hear her, looking down at the man with obvious relief that he wasn't dead. The man met her gaze and as I watched, I saw his expression change. In the back of my mind I felt a familiar presence struggling to make it's way to the forefront of my mind. _Not now_ I told it, pushing it back where it belonged.

The man abruptly rolled all the way onto his back, forcing my attention back to the present, and tried to get to his feet. Everyone backed up severally feet as he struggled to stay upright.

"You alright?" Jane asked him.

"Hammer?" he said, ignoring Jane's question, "Hammer?"

"Yeah, we can tell you're hammered. It's pretty obvious," Darcy replied, backing up a little more.

Jane, no longer interested in our 'new friend', started looking at the ground where the man had been lying seconds before. "Oh my God. Erik look at this! We have to move quickly before this all changes," she exclaimed, kneeling down on the outside of a strange-looking circular design on the ground and scrambling for something in her pockets.

Selvig kneeled down beside her, but kept his gaze on the their 'new friend' as he spun around in place looking up at the sky. "Jane, we have to take him to the hospital," he told her.

"Father!" the man yelled up to the sky.

"He's fine, look at him," Jane argued, still preoccupied with the markings on the ground.

"Heimdall! I know you can hear me! Open the Bifrost!" the man shouted, still looking at the sky.  _Heimdall? Bifrost? Where have I heard that before?_ _  
_

"Hospital. You go, I'll stay," Jane told Selvig.

"You. What realm is this?" the man asked, pointing to Selvig and walking toward him, "Alfheim? Nornheim?"

"New Mexico?" Darcy replied, pointing her flashlight at him as well as something that looked suspiciously like a taser.

"You dare threaten me, Thor, with so puny a weapon," the man yelled, turning and moving toward Darcy and I. Not trusting this 'new friend' of ours, I took a step forward and in front of Darcy, trying to subtly put myself between her and the crazy man who thought his name was Thor. 

Before then man could take another step toward us, there was a buzzing sound and the man twitched before falling to the ground face first.  _Yup. A taser. A pretty good one, too._ _  
_

Once the man hit the ground Selvig and Jane both turned to look at Darcy with shocked expressions.

"What? He was freaking me out!" she said, defending herself.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," I said, speaking into the silence, "Let's go ahead and get this guy into the van so we can take him to the hospital. And Darcy? Let's save tasering people as a last resort, alright?"

Together, the four of us managed to drag the man over to the van and started trying to get him inside so that we could get going.

"Next time you decide to taser somebody, make sure he's already in the car, okay?" Selvig huffed at Darcy.

"Where's the fun in that?" I replied.

Selvig ignored me and called over to Jane, "Jane! Come on."

Listening, for once in her life, Jane jogged back to the van and climbed into the back. Once everyone was settled, I put the van in drive and headed back toward the town, and more specifically, toward the county hospital.

When we reached the hospital, I ran inside to let the lady at the front desk know that we had an unconscious man in the back of our van and that we needed a stretcher because he was ridiculously heavy. Her eyes widening, the woman picked up the phone on the desk and called in a stretcher, and within a few minutes our 'new friend' was being rolled into the back of the hospital while Jane was asked to answer a few question about what happened.

"Name?" the woman asked.

"He said it was Thor?" Jane replied, somewhat uncertainly.

"T-H-O-R" the woman spelled out as she typed it into the system. "And your relationship to him?"

"I've never met him before." 

"Until she hit him with a car," Darcy not-so-helpfully chimed in, causing me to stifle another laugh.

"I grazed him," Jane said quickly, "But she tasered him."

"Yes I did," Darcy said, looking very proud of herself.

Selvig, unamused by Darcy's antics asked the woman, "Do you have any more questions for us? Because if not, it's pretty late, and we'd really like to be getting back home."

"That should be it," the woman replied, "just leave a number we can reach you at with us incase anything else comes up. 

Selvig quickly gave the woman the number for Jane's lab, and hurried us out the door and back to the van, presumably to avoid anyone saying anything stupid and getting us all arrested.

When we got out to the van, I climbed back into the driver's seat, started the car, and headed for home.

 

 

 

 


	2. The Man Who Fell from the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the outfit for this chapter:
> 
> http://www.polyvore.com/shield_in_new_mexico/set?id=120502375&lid=3557435

"You don't think this was just a magnetic storm, do you?" Selvig asked Jane while looking over some of the data they managed to collect before Jane started an argument with Darcy over who was driving that lead to hitting a, slightly crazy, but innocent stranger.

"Look, the lensing around these edges is characteristic of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge," Jane replied, gesturing to some of the readouts.

"A what?" Darcy asked.

"I thought you were a science major," Selvig said, turning to look at Darcy.

"Political science," she replied.

"She was the only applicant," Jane cut it in before Selvig could ask why Darcy was here.

"An Einstein-Rosen Bridge is a theoretical connection between two different points of space-time," Selvig explained to Darcy, although I'm not sure it helped much given that Darcy still looked pretty lost.

Jane, apparently following the conversation even as she rushed around the room, realized that Darcy still didn't understand, and offered a simpler explanation. "It's a wormhole," she told her. Picking up one of the photos she had taken the night before, Jane turned to Selvig, "Erik, look. What do you see?"

"Stars," Selvig answered, taking the photo from her.

"Yeah, but not our stars," Jane said, somewhat smugly.

"What do you mean 'not our stars'?" I asked, getting up from the desk chair I had been sitting in as I watched the others rush around the room and walking toward Jane so that I could look at the photo for myself.

Selvig handed the photo to me as he turned to Jane for an explanation. As per usual, she completely ignored my question and continued with what she had been saying. Grabbing another photo from the table, Jane turned to Selvig and, pointing to the new photo, said, "See, this is the star alignment for our quadrant this time of year, and unless Ursa Minor decided to take a day off, these are someone else's constellations."

"You might actually have a real argument here, Jane. Last I checked, stars didn't have much vacation time, and these are definitely not the star patterns for this time of year," I said, still examining the photo in my hands. I placed the photo back on the table and looked up, only to realize that Jane had ignored me once again and had moved off to another part of the room. "Typical," I muttered to myself as I looked through some of the other photos on the table in front of me.

"Hey! Check this out," Darcy called from over by the bulletin board. We all walked over to get a closer look at the picture hanging on the board that she was gesturing to.

"No way," I breathed as I examined the photo.

"No, it can't be," Selvig echoed.

"I think I left something at the hospital," Jane said, turning away and heading out of the room.

"I think you mean someone, " I muttered, because clear as day, in the middle of the picture, was the outline of a person, a man. More specifically, the man Jane had hit with the van and the man Darcy tasered.

~~~

Jane was already jumping out of the van before I had even fully pulled into a parking spot, leaving the rest of us scrambling to catch up as she jogged toward the main entrance.

"Hey! Hold up!" I called running after her. "It's not like he's going anywhere, so just chill," I muttered to myself, knowing that she wasn't going to listen to me anyway.

Once we got inside, Jane ran straight to the front desk and asked what room they had put our 'friend' in before jogging of in the direction the lady pointed in, barely pausing to say thanks. As we rushed by room after room while chasing after Jane, Selvig and I noticed a room on our left that had been left in shambles. I immediately recognized it as the room they had originally wheeled our 'friend' into.  _Well that can't be good._

We finally reached the room and rushed through the door only to find that the room was empty.

"Oh, my God," Darcy breathed.

"You've got that right," I said, looking at the restraints on the bed that the man had somehow gotten out of.  _Definitely not good._

As soon as it sunk in that the man had indeed escaped, we ran back out of the room, through the hospital, and back out to the van.

"I just lost my most important piece of evidence. Typical," Jane said as she slammed the driver side door shut.

"So now what?" Darcy asked as she situated herself in the backseat beside me.

"We find him," Jane replied.

"Did you see what he did in there?" Selvig asked, turning to look at Jane. "I'm not sure finding him is the best idea."

"Well our data can't tell us what it was like to be inside that event, and he can. So, we're gonna find him." Jane replied hotly.

"Okay," Darcy said, trying to ease the tension.

"So we're gonna look all over New Mexico, right?" Selvig asked sarcastically.

"Exactly," Jane replied as she started the van and put it into reverse. Looking over her shoulder, Jane started backing up. All of a sudden someone, a very familiar someone, walked behind the van. Jane didn't have time to even think about stopping before the van made contact, knocking the man to the ground. "What!" She exclaimed as we all scrambled out of the van and rushed toward the fallen man.

"I'm so sorry! I swear I'm not doing this on purpose!" Jane yelled as she kneeled down next to the man.

"I don't know, sis. This is starting to look pretty suspicious." I said, trying not to laugh, but not being able to stop the smirk that was forming. Jane didn't even dignify my comment with a reply. She just shot me a glare as her and Selvig helped the man to his feet and started to lead him toward the van.

"I'm so sorry," Jane said again, "How about you come with us so we can get you some clothes and, and how about some food, huh? How's that sound?" 

"Jane you're rambling. Stop. Relax," I said, taking the man's arm from her grasp and helping her into the passenger seat, leaving Selvig to get the man into the van. After I was sure Jane was situated, I went around to the other side, climbing into the driver's seat. "Everyone good back there?" I asked as I started the van and put it into reverse. Pulling a leaf out of Jane's book I started backing up before anyone could reply, and headed back to the lab.

~~~

Once we arrived back at the lab, everyone headed toward the main room, Selvig leading our new friend.

Seeing that nobody else was prepared to take charge I decided to take matters into my own hands. "Jane, why don't you see if you can find some clothes for..."

"Thor," the man supplied helpfully, "My name is Thor, of-"

"Right. Thor," I said cutting him off before he could continue, "Jane, why don't you find  _Thor_  some clothes to wear. I bet some of jacka-I mean, the doctor's old stuff would fit him." Without looking to see if she was going to listen to me, I turned to Darcy. "Go see what we've got for food, alright?" I told her. "And Selvig," I said, turning toward him and Thor, "why don't you show our guest to the bathroom so he can change. I'll go get the clothes from Jane and meet you there, alright?" Without waiting for a reply, I walked down the hall, out the door, and over to the RV.

"Hey, Jane. DId you find anything?" I asked as I poked my head into the RV.

"Yeah, here," she said, handing me a pair of jeans before disappearing into the back 'room'.

"That's great," I said, "How about a shirt?"

"Working on it," she yelled back. "Where did it...? Ah! Got it!" She exclaimed. I looked over to see her walking toward me holding a blue shirt in her hand. "Here," she said.

"Thanks," I replied, taking it from her and turning toward the door.

"Jo, do you-? What do you-?" 

"Everything will be fine, Jane," I said, cutting her off, "just relax and trust me, alright?" And again, the presence in the back of my mind tried to push itself to the forefront. _Everything is about to change,_ it whispered tauntingly,  _and nothing will ever be the same again._  Gritting my teeth, I forced it back. Giving Jane a wave from over my shoulder, I headed back to the lab, clothing in tow.

 Once I got back inside I headed straight for the bathroom, stopping at the door to knock.

"You may enter," Thor said from the other side. Taking that to mean he was decent, I opened the door only to immediately slam it shut again.

"What the hell are you doing?" I exclaimed, "I thought you said I could come in!"

"I did," he replied in a confused tone.

"What do-? What are-? You are _naked!"_ I finally managed to get out.

"Yes..." Thor agreed, still sounding confused.

"You don't tell someone they-Oh nevermind. Here," I said, cracking the door and shoving the clothing inside before slamming it shut again. "Put those on, then come join us out here. I think Darcy managed to find some food for you."

After I heard movement on the other side of the door that sounded like Thor picking up the clothes, I walked over to the table and sat down, putting my head down face first into the wood. 

Not even a minute later, Jane walked into the room, saw me sitting at the table, and asked, "What's with her?"

"Don't ask," I grumbled at the same time Darcy said, "She walked in on our guest. Naked."

"Darcy I swear-" I started, picking my head up off the table just as Thor walked out of the bathroom, without a shirt. "I am just so done," I muttered, dropping my head back down on the table with an audible thud.

"You know, for a homeless guy, he's pretty cut," Darcy mused as she sat in the chair next to me, setting what sounded like a box down in front of her. A quick glance confirmed that it was indeed a box, a box of Poptarts.

"Really? That's the best you could find?" I asked.

"There's not really much to chose from around here, you know," she replied somewhat defensively. "Hey, sorry I tased you!" she said to Thor as he came toward us, still without a shirt. I checked.

"Excuse me, excuse me!" Jane said, rushing by the table and over to Thor who must've tried to touch one of her gadgets.

"What is this?" Thor asked her. I looked up to see that Thor was pointing to a 'hello my name is...' sticker on the shirt that he was still not wearing.

"Oh," Jane said, reaching for the sticker to pull it off, "My ex. Good with patients and bad with relationships-"

"And extremely boring, and a complete jacka-" I chimed in before Jane cut me off.

"They're the only clothes I had that would fit you," Jane continued as though I hadn't said anything.

"They will suffice," Thor replied, sounding rather arrogant.

"You're welcome," Jane muttered as she followed him over to the table where, finally wearing the shirt, he sat down.

"This mortal form has grown weak. I need sustenance," Thor announced.

Pushing the box of Poptarts in his direction, I said, "Here. Have at it." And have at it he did, eating the entire box in a matter of minutes before asking for seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. SHEILD in New Mexico?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The outfit for this chapter is the same as the last since it is still the same day, but here's the link again anyway:
> 
> http://www.polyvore.com/shield_in_new_mexico/set?id=120502375&lid=3557435

"How'd you get inside that cloud?" Jane asked, followed by Darcy asking, "Also, how could you eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts and still be this hungry?" 

This had been going on for a while now as we all sat a table at the local diner and watched as Thor just kept eating. Jane, Selvig, and even Darcy had been volleying questions at him for quite a while that Thor either answered partially or not at all. Some questions he just ignored outright.

Thor finished off his cup of coffee, holding the mug in front of him, and said, "This drink, I like it."

"I know. It's great, right?" Darcy agreed.

"Another!" Thor yelled before throwing the cup to the floor, smashing it into pieces and making nearly everyone in the diner jump.

Hearing the noise, the waitress looked over, and Jane quickly got out of her seat to kneel on the floor and start picking up the pieces, saying, "sorry, Izzy. A little accident."

Trusting that Jane could handle the mess, the waitress continued whatever she had been doing and left us alone.

Thor looked over at Jane as though he was amused that she was attempting to pick up the mess he had made, and Jane snapped. "What was that?" she demanded angrily.

"It was delicious. I want another," Thor replied easily.

"Well you could have just said so." Jane said hotly.

Sounding amused again, Thor said, "I just did."

"No, I mean, ask  _nicely,_ " Jane clarified.

"I meant no disrespect," Thor said in a similar tone.

"All right. Well, no more smashing. Deal?" Jane told Thor.

"You have my word," Thor agreed, once again seeming amused by the whole thing.

From my seat between Thor and Selvig, I watched as a group of men, locals by the look of them, came into the diner and headed for the counter.

"The usual, please, Izzy," one of the men said as they all sat down.

"You missed all the excitement out at the crater," one of the other man said, catching Selvig's attention. "They're saying some kind of satellite landed out in the desert," he continued, catching Jane's attention and making her tear her gaze from Thor to look over at the man who was speaking.

"Yeah, we were having a good time with it," another man cut in, "until the Feds showed up."

"Excuse me," Jane said, catching the men's attention, "did you say there was a satellite crash?"

"Yeah," one of the men replied.

"Oh, my God. This is going on facebook," Darcy said, "smile." A quick glance in her direction showed her holding up her phone and Thor smiling around a mouth full of food for the picture.

Ignoring Darcy's antics, Selvig asked, "What did it look like, the satellite?"

"Well, I don't know anything about satellites, but it was heavy," the man replied, "I mean, nobody could lift it."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thor give a little half-smile before he set his napkin down, got up from the table and walked over toward the men at the counter. 

"They said it was radioactive. I had my hands all over it," the man continued.

"Which way?" Thor asked, grabbing the man by the shoulder.

"Fifty miles west of here," he answered, somewhat confused by Thor's question and lack of manners. "Well, I wouldn't waste my time," the man told Thor as he started for the door, "looked like the whole Army was coming when we left."

Jane hurriedly grabbed her purse and headed out the door after Thor, the rest of us trailing behind her. When we got outside, we saw Thor walk right into the middle of the street, heedless of the oncoming traffic, and a car honked at him. Thor just kept going, getting in another car's way and getting honked at again. It didn't seem to bother him much. 

"Where are you going?" Jane asked as she and I jogged over to Thor's side.

"Fifty miles west of here," Thor replied.

"Why?" Jane asked walking quickly to keep up his brisk pace.

"To get what belongs to me,"

"So you own a satellite now?" Jane asked sarcastically.

"It's not what they say it is," Thor explains.

"Well, whatever it is, the government seems to think it's theirs," Jane tells him as Selvig and Darcy finally catch up after having taken care of the bill back at the diner. "So, you just intend to go in there and take it?" Jane asked.

"Yes," Thor said as though what he was saying made perfect sense, stopping to turn and look at Jane. "If you take me there now, I'll tell you everything you wish to know," Thor told her.

"Everything?" Jane asked.

"Yes," Thor replied, "all the answers you seek will be yours once I reclaim Mjolnir."

"Myeu-muh? What's Myeu-muh?" Darcy asked.

"Can I have a word, Jane?" Selvig asked while casting dubious looks at Thor. I was starting to do the same myself.  _Mjolnir? Thor?_ _This is starting to sound too much like a children's story. Like a myth._

"Please don't do this," Selvig begged as soon as we had moved out of earshot.

"You saw what I saw last night," Jane told him, "this is no coincidence. We have to find out what's in that crater."

"But I'm not talking about the crater," Selvig said, "I'm talking about him."

"But he's promising answers," Jane argued.

"He's delusional," Selvig said gently, "listen to what he's saying. He's talking about Mjolnir and Thor and Bifrost. It's the stories I grew up with as a child."

"I'm just going to drive him," Jane pleaded, "that's it."

"He's dangerous, Jane," Selvig told her.

Giving in, Jane walked back over to Thor. "I'm sorry, but I can't take you," she told him.

"Then this is where we say goodbye," Thor told her, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips in a kiss, making Jane give nervous laugh.

"Um. Thank you?" Jane said.

"Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, Jo, Darcy, farewell," Thor said, giving a slight bow that both Darcy and Selvig returned. 

"Alright. Back to work," Selvig said, turning to head back down the street toward the lab, Darcy, Jane, and I trailing behind him. Jane looked back at Thor as we left for as long as she could and I knew, I just _knew,_ that this was far from over.

As we came around the corner and started to cross the street, a huge black truck came flying by, filled to the brim with all kinds of equipment, and honked at us.

"Hey! That's my stuff," Jane exclaimed, and we all took of at a brisk jog toward the lab. When we got there there were all kinds of black vehicles parked everywhere with men in suits pilling Jane's equipment into them and hauling it away.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jane demanded as she ran into the building's main room.

As the rest of us followed after her, a man stepped into view. As soon as I saw him, I froze in place, staring at him in shock. The others didn't notice that I had stopped moving and walked toward him as he said, "Ms. Foster, I'm Agent Coulson with S.H.E.I.L.D."

_What is he doing here?_

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Jane asked, furiously, "you can't do this!"

"Jane!" Selvig said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.  _Get it together. Act normal._  I told myself as I walked over to where the others were standing. "Jane, this is a lot more serious than you realize," Selvig told her, trying to calm her down, as I moved to stand so that Selvig was between Coulson and I, "let it go."

"Let it go?" Jane said, "This is my life."

"We're investigating a security threat," Coulson told her as he kept pace beside her as she rushed through the lab, "We need to appropriate your records and all your atmospheric data." 

"By 'appropriate,' do you mean steal?" Jane asked angrily. Unsuccessful in wrenching some of her equipment back from one of the men packing up her stuff, she turned back to Coulson.

"Here, this should more than compensate you for your trouble," Coulson said as he handed her a check.

"I can't just buy replacements at Radio Shack, I made most of this equipment myself," Jane exclaimed as Selvig, Darcy and I moved to stand behind her. I watched the movement going on all around us to avoid looking at  _him._

"And I'm sure you can do it again," Coulson told her.

"And I'm sure I can sue you for violating my constitutional rights!" Jane said heatedly, stepping closer to him.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Foster," Coulson said, looking very much like he really meant it, "but we're the good guys."

"So are we!" Jane exclaimed, sounding desperate. "I'm on the verge of understanding something extraordinary. And everything I know about this phenomenon is either in this lab or in this book. And you can't just take this away-Hey!" Jane yelled as one of the men grabbed the book out of her hand. Jane lunged for it and the man grabbed her, trying to hold her still.

"Jane! Easy! Easy. Jane..." Selvig yelled as he pulled Jane out of the man's hold and held her back himself. Furious, I finally looked over at Coulson, making eye contact, and gave him the worst glare I could muster as I moved over to Jane's other side, giving her arm a reassuring squeeze.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Coulson said, flashing me a very short, but definitely real, apologetic look, and climbed into the black van just before if drove away.

Darcy and I stood behind Jane, each hugging her and rubbing her arms as the vans all drove away, loaded with her life's work.

"I'm so sorry Jane," I told her. 

_But I'll make sure you get it all back._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
